


That Had Gone Wrong

by TwinkieMonsterTallah



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Aiden doesn't do the obvious, Blackwall is Dad TM, Corpses, Fallow Mire, I hate the Fallow Mire, Iron Bull and Chargers are mentioned, Pre-Reveal of Blackwall being a FILTHY LIAR, Terror Demons, self-sacrificing nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 18:58:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15443670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinkieMonsterTallah/pseuds/TwinkieMonsterTallah
Summary: Everything had happened too quickly for Aiden to keep up as it happened.Vivienne had lit the veilfire while he, Blackwall, and Sera had all stood around her, weapons drawn to begin slaying the corpses and demons they knew the beacon’s light would draw.That had gone right.The first several corpses had shambled up the walkways, and Sera had begun firing as Aiden and Blackwall had dove to the sides to begin cutting down the ones on the edges.That had gone right.Sera had yelled when an arrow slammed into the beacon beside her, and Vivienne had misfired her spell in shock, launching a great ball of ice high into the air, where it had burst and mixed with the rain, making it harder to see for a moment.That had gone wrong.





	That Had Gone Wrong

Everything had happened too quickly for Aiden to keep up as it happened. 

Vivienne had lit the veilfire while he, Blackwall, and Sera had all stood around her, weapons drawn to begin slaying the corpses and demons they knew the beacon’s light would draw. 

That had gone right. 

The first several corpses had shambled up the walkways, and Sera had begun firing as Aiden and Blackwall had dove to the sides to begin cutting down the ones on the edges. 

That had gone right. 

Sera had yelled when an arrow slammed into the beacon beside her, and Vivienne had misfired her spell in shock, launching a great ball of ice high into the air, where it had burst and mixed with the rain, making it harder to see for a moment. 

That had gone wrong. 

Aiden finished decapitating a corpse, wincing as a wound on his arm throbbed. He spun around to help with the rest, just in time to see Blackwall fall as one of the demons, a terror, slashed his back open, shredding his quilted armor like paper. 

Sera and Vivienne were already down, leaving Aiden as the only one left standing. 

As the terrors and corpses started to turn to him, Aiden reached into his belt and grabbed some of his shadow powder, throwing it down and… nothing happened. It was raining. Thinking quickly, he stepped backwards and fell off the platform instead. 

He made it underneath a bit that stuck out and looked up through the boards. He was relieved to see that the terrors and corpses didn’t seem interested in the fallen Inquisition members, although whether they were alive or dead was another concern altogether, and one which had Aiden's gut twisting in fear. 

Taking a deep breath, Aiden reached down to his belt to check his potions and found only two regeneration potions remaining. If he could reach one of the others, he could use one of the potions to try to wake them up, but that would take too long! They would both definitely be dead before the potion could kick in. 

After a moment of thought, Aiden took one of the potions and moved it to the other side of his belt to keep himself from reaching for it out of habit. He would save one for one of the others, and he would use one himself. 

He downed his one potion quickly, dropping the glass vial out of fucking habit. He swore as the terrors both opened their portals and the ground beneath him began to glow.  
Diving forward, Aiden rolled to his feet and began running a lap around the platform, hoping to keep ahead just long enough for his arm to stop telling him it was time to stop fighting. 

Arrows from the corpse archers left behind whizzed behind him, striking the water around the beacon and sinking to the bottom. 

With a practiced hand, Aiden grabbed another pinch of powder and threw it, but a sword swinging at his head from above told him that his cloak of shadows still hadn’t worked.  
Feeling the potion had had its moment to kick in, Aiden ran back up the platform and spun his daggers in his hands, attacking the corpses and driving them back for a moment so that he could clear some space for himself on the platform. 

He fell to the floor as a terror sprung from beneath him. Aiden shot back to his feet and thrust both daggers forward, impaling it in the middle and slicing outwards. The demon shrieked and backhanded him, knocking him sprawling into the soggy ground below. 

The feeling of his wrist spraining and then slowly healing almost made Aiden drop his dagger as his whole arm felt like it had fallen asleep, but he managed to keep a hold on the weapon. He dove aside again as the ground glowed and the injured terror sprang forth, seeking revenge for the wound Aiden had dealt it. Side-stepping the terror and letting it rush past him, Aiden was able to sneak behind the confused demon and drive both daggers into its back, pulling down and killing it. 

His victory was short-lived as the second terror shrieked, reminding him it was there. 

The potion had stopped working, meaning Aiden had no choice but to finish this battle without any healing. 

Thinking back to past battles for these beacons, Aiden remembered that the corpses had all fallen when the demons were slain, so if he ignored them and focused on the terror, he could end this fight in minutes. 

With this new plan, Aiden dove once more out of the path of a springing demon and rolled to his feet, spinning around and bringing the daggers up. 

The demon had barely a mark on it, meaning the elf had to take it all the way down. He flicked his wrists, spreading poison down his blades as he spun the daggers again, slicing repeatedly into the demon. He sensed the corpse behind him and dropped to the ground just as the blade whistled past where his head had been. It bit into the demon, but it seemed to do absolutely no damage at all. 

Dropping to the ground had been a mistake as the demon slapped a hand down over his chest, driving Aiden completely to the ground and knocking the breath out of him.  
He didn’t have time to clear his ringing head as the demon raised its free hand to bring down on him. Aiden lifted a hand as the claws came down, blocking them enough that the force of the blow made the demon sever its own fingers. Only its forefinger and thumb remained attached, and when its hand passed by his face, he was able to turn his face so that only the tip of its foreclaw was able to neatly cut his face open, leaving a bleeding trail from the bottom of his eye to the top of his lip. 

Without time to react to pain, Aiden swung his legs up and kicked the demon in the chest, knocking it off of him and making it stumble back. He followed, crossing his daggers and using them in a scissoring motion to cut the demon’s head off. 

He grinned wildly as the demon shuddered and fell, but just as the golden flash of the magic ending surrounded him, an arrow slammed into his back just beneath his ribs.  
Aiden arched back and screamed before collapsing. His body felt as though fire as racing through his veins, igniting him from the inside. He realized the arrow had been poisoned and reached back with a shaking hand to pull it out. From the close range it was fired from, it had gone through his armor, but had still been stopped with just the head piercing his back. 

He was able to get the arrowhead out of his back to prevent any more poison from spreading, but couldn’t get it out of his clothes. Aiden dropped his arm and lay on the ground, struggling to catch his breath as he came down from his adrenaline rush and felt every single injury he had received, including his not-quite-healed sprained wrist. Every part of him felt weighed down, and he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep… 

No! He couldn’t sleep now, what was he thinking?! 

Forcing himself to think clearly past poison-addled thoughts, Aiden slowly stood on unsteady feet, watching the world around him dip and sway as he stumbled up the ramp of the beacon. He collapsed by the nearest familiar face, not quite being able to place a name as clumsy fingers withdrew his last regeneration potion. 

Blackwall. This was Blackwall. He remembered! 

He looked down at the bottle, making sure it was right. Orange was good, right? 

Aiden later wouldn’t be able to recall pulling the stopper out, but he put so much effort into making sure he didn’t just dump the contents of the bottle all over Blackwall’s face that he recalled it as taking an eternity. 

As soon as the last drop was carefully poured into Blackwall’s mouth, Aiden allowed the bottle to drop from his hand, watching it bounce a few feet before the uneven planks held it in place. 

Dragging his eyes away from the bottle, Aiden looked around for signs of more demons or corpses as he waited for Blackwall to wake up. He pulled the Warden so his head was on his lap, and he may have mussed the man’s mustache, but he wasn’t clear. 

The Inquisitor was seeing double by the time Blackwall stirred. 

Blackwall yelled and sat bolt upright as he remembered the battle, but he immediately calmed down when he saw that everything was still. He turned around to face Aiden, a half-formed question on his lips when the elf swayed and fell. 

Blackwall caught him and asked, “What happened?” 

Frowning as he tried to make the words go, Aiden slurred, “I… won.” 

“By yourself?!” 

Aiden grinned. 

“Maker’s balls!” 

“You… you needa wa’ th’… th’ oth’rs.” 

Whatever Blackwall was trying to say to him, Aiden heard absolutely nothing as he finally passed out. 

***********

“Blackwall!” Aiden shouted and bolted upright. Blackwall was being attacked! 

“Present.” A calm voice made him turn. 

Blackwall was sitting cross-legged on the ground next to Aiden's bedroll, looking less-than impressed. 

“You… you’re alright!” Aiden sighed with relief. “I thought the terror… what happened?!” 

“Try to remember.” 

Something in Blackwall’s tone made Aiden think something had made the Warden angry. Something in his eye too, and the way he seemed stiff when he put a hand on Aiden's shoulder to push him back down. 

Laying back down, Aiden thought hard. “I remember… I remember watching you fall, and I didn’t have enough time to revive everyone. I was fighting the terrors, and I figured out to ignore the corpses. I beat the terrors, and then… well, everything hurt, and I was dizzy. I woke you up, and that’s it.” 

“You fought two bloody terrors without support!” Blackwall wasn’t shouting yet, but his steadily rising voice still made Aiden shrink and reminded him of an angry parent. 

“What if you had died?! You should have run away the moment we fell! You reckless idiot, you’re the most important person here! Without that mark on your hand, how the blazes are we supposed to defeat Corypheus?! A beacon isn’t that damn important!” 

Blackwall sounded like he had been waiting a few hours to say all of this. 

“At the very least, you should have used your damn potion! You could have just searched us for potions when you were done fighting and used those on us!” 

A bit in shock at having a parental tone used on him for the first time in four years, all Aiden could think to say was, “I can’t search ladies; that’s rude!” 

From the other side of the tent, Vivienne’s amused voice told Blackwall, “He’s missed the point dear.” 

Blackwall turned an interesting shade of red as he realized the entire camp had just heard him shouting at the Inquisitor. 

Taking a moment to compose himself, Blackwall muttered, “At least tell me you’re feeling better.” 

“Nothing hurts anymore, and I can think straight.” Aiden offered. 

“Oh, good. You were poisoned and your face was cut in half when we got you here.” 

“Do I have a scar?” 

“No. it was a clean cut, easy to heal.” 

“Damn.” Aiden was a little disappointed not to have a scar from his self-proclaimed badass beacon capture. It would have made the story more believable when he told it to the Chargers! 

“Try not to be so reckless, alright? You are more important to us than a mark.” 

Putting thoughts of bragging aside, Aiden shook his head. “I can’t promise that.” 

“And why is that?” 

“Because you’re all important to me. I was afraid when I saw you fall. I don’t want to lose anyone, so I’m going to fight for you guys. As long as you’re my friend, I’m going to protect you, so get used to it.” 

Softly, Blackwall said, “Maker’s balls, you’re the youngest. You shouldn’t be thinking this way.” 

“Too late. I’m in charge, so I have to think this way.” 

Aiden sat up again, which prompted Blackwall to ask him, “Where do you think you’re going?” 

“Outside. I’m starving and I can smell food.” 

“I can bring it to you.” 

“I also need to piss.” 

“…I’m not going to make you stay in here for that.” 

Aiden laughed as he stood and left the tent.

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me if this needs a graphic violence tag. I didn't think it did, but you guys judge this and tell me please.
> 
> Also, to anyone wondering why 'Prisoner of the Past' was deleted, I have a few reasons. One, I'm changing things to leave Hawke in the Fade because I have a B A D A S S return planned for her (I'm using twin Hawkes, so bro'll be around a bit), and two, the title fucking sucked. I will be re-writing Aiden's post-Adamant PTSD and self-loathing, so please give me a little time!
> 
> Seriously, Hawke's not dead. The dialogue wheel says they MAY die, not they WILL die, so she'll be back. Terminator Hawke.


End file.
